If you are feeling sorry for yourself because you suffer from first world problems, you need to read this book. It will shame away all of your self pity, and if it doesn't, please don't admit that in polite company. His dad starved to death, his mother sold his sister in China to be a sex slave, his mother also abandons him to live homeless by himself, he lived for a time in a detention center (think Lord of the Flies) And that's just the start..